First, thanks for giving your thoughts and responding. I think that when you say this (as you did in the blog post): "here are a couple of rules to follow to

First, thanks for giving your thoughts and responding. I think that when you say this (as you did in the blog post): "here are a couple of rules to follow to ensure a good user experience:" ...particularly using "rules" you have to keep in mind that anyone and everyone could be reading your post. And they very well might think that you are more qualified in your opinions than someone who has come to those conclusion by observation [1] and therefore give those "rules" greater authority than they deserve. Since, by your reply to my question, you say are actually just "simply usability guidelines that I've built up over my time interacting with hundreds of websites". Now of course if you are a business offering to sell a product or service I for one think that it's a good idea to be definitive and state an opinion in many cases as if it's a fact. Regardless of whether it is or not. [2] [1] Which of course we all do from time to time. [2] But even with that I would never tell people in a blog post that this is a "rule" just something that I feel (and for what reason) is appropriate from my perspective.